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Early Access - Life is Strange (& help me, please) (Patreon)

Published:
2017-07-05 02:30:09
Edited:
2017-07-05 02:30:10
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hey hey hey team!

New video essay is online for your perusal: an arguably overlong dissection of Life is Strange's weird genre mashup.

A few things will change before this goes public - there are some vocal pops I need to re-record, the footage from Donnie Darko is glitchy, and the audio levels are uneven, but this is more or less what will go live in a couple days. Hope you like it!

Now, a request: I still don't know what to call this video. I want to signal that the video is about LiS existing in two genres at once and not really reconciling the tension between them, and that it ends up being kind of a mess, but in a way that's sort of fascinating. I keep entertaining traffic accident/train collision metaphors (Genre Rubberneck, Genre Pileup, The Cornfield Meet), but I'm not thrilled with any of them.

So: please suggest titles if you have some good ideas!

Cheers,

-I

Files

LiS rough cut

Comments

Nikki

"Life is Strange: A meta-state of two genres" - Other possible words might be "equilibrium" for a good balance, "aether" for a state somewhere beyond usual definitions but somewhere grounded in usual definitions, or "symbiosis" for the state of the two genres being separate, but still functioning quite well and at least sustaining each other.

Luis

Is calling it "Bildungsroman & Life is Strange" too on the nose

Nikki

Important misinterpretation: Max taking the photo of Kate being bullied is not about art in the slightest (~7:30 into the video), but was intended to be used as proof if it ever gets worse so something can be done.

Jacob Geller

I don't have any helpful titles, but I did love the video. I definitely share the feeling of "I don't even know if I should like this game, but I'm blown away by where it went"

Nikki

Another misinterpretation (if meant this way): It's possible to solve the dialogue-puzzle with Frank outside of his van even if his dog is still alive, but it's definitely hard and involves rewinding necessarily at least once or twice to warn chloe to do some things other than intuitively. It may seem like it is impossible, but it definitely is - how it's worded in the video implies that it's actually just impossible. ~13:00

Andrey Kurenkov

"Life Is Strange: a Dialectic of Two Genres" is fun though probably not right and too pretentious. Or, I like the sound of "Life Is Strange's Genre Quagmire". As has been pointed out, the discussion of taking a photo of Kate is definitely off. And the thing with Frank is mostly interesting because the game forces you into shooting or otherwise being aggressive if you do too much morally pure decision making beforehand - being selfless actually has a cost and consequences, and you cannot do it painlessly. A bit of criticism if I may (I have thought about this a lot): I think this video has a lot of good points wrt genre, but the dissection of the ending feels way off. In the end, to me it felt like sacrificing Chloe as well as the power of time travel (concluding the growing up story and the weird lynchian stuff), or being selfish and insisting that your bond to Chloe matters above all and is worth preserving even at that terrible cost (concluding the friendship/romance/loyalty threads). I think it's worth noting that by far the majority of the time of the game is spent developing this one particular bond/friendship/romance, and in particular emphasizing loyalty. And I LOVED this ending because it felt lie there was only one 'correct' choice that was thematically appropriate - unlike the vast majority of games basically equivocating and letting players have it both ways, this one actually seemed to structure the ending with one thematically appropriate and correct decision and one that felt good but was ultimately wrong. The stuff about reloading hardly matters - it's easy to look up a youtube video of the alternate ending too, but it's only the 'real' choice that matters. That's my take, anyway - enjoyed the essay regardless!

Cass

Choice is Strange / This Genre Will Have Consequences

Nikki

Great video, as always. Funny, thoughtful, and thorough. I can also definitely agree that the ending is polarizing (hah), and most people have very strong opinions on it. The choice ratio is always very close to 50/50, and people on both sides often can't understand anyone who chooses differently. I myself am on the side of sacrificing Chloe because for me, it's a choice between rationality and emotion. I always try to decide rationally, even in emotional topics (not very healthy), so that's the case here as well. It's even a criteria for potential new Let's Players for me; what they choose and why often lets me decide wether or not to sub to them. Not really representative in itself, of course, but it also shows emotional reactions which is a big part of watching LPs for me and how they talk, which in the end is most of what's important for me for an LPer. I myself never saw the game as two genres and the last choice as a choice of which genre you want closure for - neither did anyone I ever talked to about it - but the reasoning behind it is definitely conclusive and makes sense. People might not be aware of it, but they might choose somewhat based on that principle.

Spare Parts

"Branching/Broaching Genre: The Dueling Messages of Life Is Strange"

Simon Piano

Stuck between Genres, Genre identity crisis Between hare and hound (referencing the phrase "to run with the hare and hunt with the hound" meaning you fail to do two things)

Aimée

Seconding "Genre identity crisis". Sounds punchy and somewhat fitting for a character choosing who there supposed to be growing up.

Aimée

/part 2 cause my comment posted before I was done for some reason. Was mildly surprised by all the cursing lol. I don't mind cursing but its usually most fitting to use it as a full-stop rather than punctuation if you get me. Until your wrap up at the end I honestly couldn't tell if you were cursing out of frustration, or anger or bafflement. I literally questioned whether or not you liked the game, but then at the end you questioned it yourself so i guess that was intentional... I liked your analysis by the way, it echoed a lot of what i felt while playing it but couldn't put into words until you said them. this game tugs at your heartstrings the same way a soap opera does --sudden earnest human stories that feel cathartic in the moment --as long as your don't think too hard about likeliness or connective tissue of it all.

Robert Griffith

"What did I just play? Life Is Strange and a Collision of Genres"